Management Perspective Chinas Food Scare

Question: Desribe about the Management Perspective for Chinas Food Scare. Answer: Introduction Organizational behavior, politics and business dynamics affects and alters behaviors of individuals and leaders who form a part of the organization(Balthazard, 2006). Often organizational culture is against the personal choices and determining factors for individuals which gives rise to conflict within self. An individual within an organization is able to perform ones the organizational politics and dynamics matches with the personal mind framework, this aspect determines the personal fit into the organization vision and mission along with strategies. Leaders and employees in various organizations often face role conflict, which arises from ones own personal ethical set-up against various organizational stakeholders demands. The report is an analysis of self in Mc Donalds organizational cultural set up, the various ethical dilemmas and issues faced. Further the report goes on to discuss the various steps taken that can alter the performance of ones self in the organization and give r ise to less of organizational conflict. Mc Donalds has been criticized to conduct various deceptive marketing practices and unethical conduct due to their managers and leaders behavior. These ethical practices have done more harm to the organization than good in markets of China and India(Witkowski, 2007). Personal SWOT of self will highlight the discrepancies with the organization and will also help in diagnosing better self-improvement skills for organizational betterment. Analysis of Self While I was working within an organization it was in my best interest to adapt to the organizational culture that is practiced(Hansen, 2007). Often an individual while adapting oneself to the organizational politics and dynamics faces ethical dilemma that not hampers oneself but also does greater harm to the organization. Mc Donalds in China has been found to be selling low quality food products, often rotten food and adapting to deceptive marketing practices for attracting large number of customers. As I was employed in Mc Donalds it was my foremost duty and vision to change these practices and adopt ethical norms for the company. China offers a large market of potential customers for Mc Donalds and the company has a good brand name world over. Hence resorting to unethical practices will lead to company losses and raise future sustainability issues in the Chinese market. Customers will avert the company due to its malpractices, as customers today have immense access to a wide variet y of information(Quast, 2013). As an individual with ethical vision the strength is to conduct business corporate social responsibility. But following such practices have led to un-acceptance amongst many in the organizational set-up with an unethical mid set-up. The following are the highlights of personal SWOT analysis as viewed by self and others in the organization. SWOT is an abbreviation for Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threats. Personal SWOT Strength: Ethical personal orientation, as seen by self Capability to lead a team, as considered by self Competences to motivate individuals in a team, according to self-assessment High ability to work hard and diligently to achieve organizational goals, as seen by others in the organization Weakness: Inability to adopt to current unethical practices within organization, as considered by self Incompetence to adhere to current deceptive marketing practices followed in the organization, as considered by self Unable to apply and convince ethical practices successfully amongst various organizational stakeholders, as considered by self Unawareness regarding Chinese religious and cultural values, as seen by others in the organization Opportunity : To initiate a change process within the organization To apply CSR norms and practices amongst stakeholders in Mc Donalds To be able to recreate Mc Donalds tainted brand image in the country again Threat : Initial losses to business following marketing practices that stresses on healthy eating Loss in customer base in potential market Losing market share to competitors(Buttles, 2006) During my working stint, I have handled new crew members working with me and I have done exceptionally well at leading them. At times, certain mistakes were conducted which brought in scolding from the restaurant manager. At such times, I motivated the employees and ensured that their morale was not adversely impacted. I have great affinity for people and hence able to forge an amicable personal bond with both colleagues and superiors. As a result, I was immensely popular at my workplace. However, there are certain issues that I faced. One was with regards to ethical flexibility which I was expected to show so as to serve companys business interest. However, I could not effectively indulge in the same as my personal value system does not permit such a behavior. Due to lack of conviction with regards to these practices, I could not convince my colleagues with regards to the utility of the same. However, others also propagated that it is a basic necessity as even the competition is indulging in the same. At times, I had to face embarrassment at workplace and with customers due to my limited knowledge about Chinese culture and norms. I see immense opportunity with regards to bringing a radical change in the organization so as to rectify the tainted image of the company. In the change process, the single largest issue is to deal with resistance of employees to change. In this regard, my ability to forge personal equation with the people around can be leveraged so that their apprehensions could be overcome and additionally motivation for change could also be provided. Further, in order to manage the reputation of the company, CSR activities are required and I could prove to be a harbinger of sorts in this regard due of my strong value inclination as demonstrated during my work experience. However, there is always the threat that such a turnaround may not come even though a high capital is involved in various marketing initiatives. With regards to change also, able support would be required on multiple fronts to make the process success and if that support is fragile or non-existent, then it may be frustration on my part and losses for the company. PEST Analysis Individuals performance is dependent on the influence of external factors the opportunities gets converted into threats, these external influences can be analyzed through PEST. Political factors : The lack of civil liberties in China tends to have effect on the work conditions and personal freedom. Economic factors : The high economic growth that China has witnessed coupled with rising purchasing power of customers provides excellent opportunity for professional growth. Social factors : The society has certain inherent traditional conservative norms that it needs to adhere to, which acted as a weakness. Technological factors : China is highly technologically advanced country, which has all the features of the Westernized world. while working their this factor acted as a strength for me. Critical Self-Assessment Every day in the organizational set-up there are various modes of communication that an individual has to face. At Mc Donalds regular corporate email from head office communicates regarding the strategies that the company is adopting in order to meet their revenue generation goals. Following these practices determines my personal fit and other employees within the organizational cultural set-up. These revenue generation goals often needs to be attend by breach of the CSR norms that are followed by businesses. Conversation with senior managers and corporate artifacts reflects that unethical practices and deceptive marketing has become a part of the organizational culture(Boud, 2013). These practices are harmful for the long term sustainability of the business of Mc Donalds in China hence proper CSR norms needs to be adhered to and there needs to a proper organizational culture build such that these practices can be adopted. In order to initiate the change process, as a manager the rol e of a transformational leader needs to be adopted. As of now the path followed as a manger was mostly transaction leadership style that followed head office and corporate office orders. The various shareholders of the organization has a mental bend of mind only to reap profits from the business established without considering the effects that the business make on the society(Tsui, 2006). The current mental framework of mine, made it difficult to convince them to consider ethical bends in business. But with sheer determination and proper decision making it is imperative to persuade the shareholders to agree to the broader business objectives. Once the shareholders and senior individuals of the business are convinced it will be easier to adopt proper norms to conduct business and build effective relationship with the stakeholders of the business. It will be easier to manage, motivate and lead employees to follow the goals determined and to set broader business objectives(Baer, 2006). Suppliers and vendors who are external stakeholders of the business will also develop greater value and respect for the business, hence might offer competitive rates. In order to be an effective and to convince all the internal stakeholders of the business especially employees, it is important to address their culturally diverse ethnic set-up. A successful individual is one who follows geo-centric approach in managing and handling operations overseas. China is a country that has stringent social laws and bindings and employees to a certain extent follows the same set-up in their work field as well. Some of the basic norms for Chinese are respect for elders and senior members of the society, able to work under pressure and so on. These facts and other social norms as well as values need to be kept in mind prior to adopting any step in the regional office(Bennett, 2011). An awareness regarding all these facets was not present earlier and needs to be developed. Self-Improvement In order to establish one-self as a successful individual in business and to be able to transform the business in a positive way certain improvements are necessary. Corporate office practices and norms affect individuals and their behaviors and influence them to follow the same pattern. Hence it is often seen to be difficult to overcome such practices and adopt newer norms and practices in businesses. Due to imposition of corporate office practices it becomes imperative to follow similar decision making practices in individual offices(Kurman, 2006). In Mc Donalds case an outlet in China needs to follow and adhere to corporate norms and practices as followed by head office of the company is U.S.A. Therefore in order to change deceptive marketing practices at Chinese headquarters and to adopt ethical strategies shareholders of the business needs to be convinced. I needed to convince shareholders to alter their decision making criteria and pattern such that CSR norms can be adopted in Chinese markets. The shareholders needs to be convinced on grounds that China offers a huge potential market for Mc Donalds and resorting to deceptive marketing practices and unethical norms will damage the companys reputation and brand name in the market. This will lead to loss in market share for the company to the competitors, hence the company needs to adopt marketing practices that Chinese view as having positive impacts on them rather than negative. Once shareholders are ready to follow new practices and to offer premium quality products and services in the Chinese markets then fellow employees can easily be convinced regarding the new norms(Sedikides, 2009). A transformational leader along with servant leadership skills needs to be demonstrated to fellow employees such as to prove that it is possible to adhere to ethical norms and generate revenues. Employees need to be made aware of the various positive effects of CSR and ethical marketing. Cultural awareness needs to be adopted within individuals so as to develop respect for the Chinese counterparts and motivate them accordingly. Conclusion Individuals in every organization has an integral role to play in its conduct and results. However, individuals are often governed by various pressures and influences from organizational existing cultural framework of politics, dynamism and other factors. It is the personality and persona of individuals that is able to lead the organization in a positive direction. The growing awareness amongst consumers and concerns in ethics have forced individuals in various organizations to form a code of conduct through which business is able to have positive influence on the society and community where it performs. The case of Mc Donalds in China has been discussed here, which faces great scandal of food scare and issues in deceptive marketing. An individual through his personal capabilities is able to transform the organization and its employees such that it has a positive impact on the Chinese market and is able to grow further in the future. As a manager SOWT analysis has been done and sever al self-criticism along with improvement tools has been suggested which can be applied. 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